liturgical seasons of the church
Seasons of the Liturgical Year
The seasons of the liturgical year begin with Advent, a time of preparation for the Christmas season. The Christmas season celebrates the birth of Jesus (on December 25) and continues until the Baptism of Our Lord. This is followed by the first of two periods of Ordinary Time, which continues until Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent, a time of penitence leading to the Paschal Triduum after the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. The Triduum is the three days before Easter. Easter Sunday marks the start of the Easter season, which continues as a time of celebration until Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost Sunday marks the start of the second period of Ordinary Time, which continues until the Advent season begins again.
Liturgical Years
For Sundays and other special days throughout the church year, there are three sets of readings assigned for the day. These readings are assigned to Liturgical Years A, B, and C. Years which are evenly divisible by 3 are assigned year C, such as 1995. Year A follows year C, Year B follows Year A, and Year C follows Year B. Bear in mind that Liturgical Years start on the first Sunday of Advent of the previous year, so December 1, 1996 started Liturgical Year B.
Liturgical Cycles
For weekdays in ordinary time and other special days throughout the church year, there are two sets of readings for the day. These readings are assigned to Liturgical Cycles I and II. Odd years are assigned cycle I, and even years are assigned cycle II. Bear in mind that Liturgical Cycles start on the first Sunday of Advent of the previous year, so December 1, 1996 began Liturgical Cycle I.
The Lectionary
A lectionary is simply a list of Bible passages for reading, study, or preaching in services of worship. As a general term, a Lectionary can include readings for weekdays, although the term is more commonly applied today to the Scripture readings for Sunday and holidays (Holy Days). Some churches, such as those in the Catholic and Lutheran tradition, have their own lectionaries, while other churches follow a common, shared lectionary. There has been a tendency in recent years to move to more uniformity among the various lectionaries.
Scripture and the Liturgy
To encourage her children to have a "warm and living love for Scripture,"[5] the Church has enlarged the Sunday Lectionary so that the various books of the New Testaments are read roughly from beginning to end over a period of weeks, and the synoptic Gospels are read in a 3 year cycle Year A – Matthew; Year B – Mark; Year C – Luke.
Old Testament readings and Psalms are chosen to correspond to the Gospel passages and to bring out the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the New. The revised weekday lectionary for Ordinary Time complements the Sunday lectionary with its 2-year cycle of readings presenting all the major portions of the Bible, and a 1-year cycle for the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
The Sunday biblical readings are designed around a three year cycle, Year A, Year B, and Year C. In this 3-year cycle, all of the major stories and passages from most books of the Bible are included.
The Church Year begins with Advent in November/December.
Year A: 2007-2008, 2010-2011
Year B: 2008-2009, 2011-2012
Year C: 2006-2007, 2009-2010
There are usually four readings for each Sunday, one each from the Psalms, the Old Testament, a Gospel, and an Epistle. However, during the seven Sundays of Easter, the Old Testament Reading is replaced with a reading from Acts. Also, on some Sundays a poetic Responsorial Reading replaces the Psalm reading. Each year in the 3-year cycle, the readings focus on one of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, or Luke), with readings from the Gospel of John used throughout the year. The Gospel of Matthew is the focus of Year A, Mark of Year B, and Luke of Year C.